


Turn Me Out

by Spiralleds



Series: Thank Heavens 'Verse [3]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: F/M, Grief, Jealousy, M/M, Pre-Canon, Season/Series 06, Songfic, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-11-24
Updated: 2004-11-24
Packaged: 2017-10-08 18:20:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/78250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spiralleds/pseuds/Spiralleds
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ethan and Giles bump into each other England. Reminiscing ensues.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Turn Me Out

Ethan slipped into the booth as the waitress set down his drink. A beer and a shot. Must be amateur night. And a Thursday. He knocked back the shot. And when exactly had he become so predictable? He leaned against the bench cushion, bracing himself for the first cover song to be mutilated.

_Would you know my name, if I saw you in heaven?  
Would it be the same, if I saw you in heaven?_

_I must be strong and carry on,   
'Cause I know I don't belong here in heaven._

Ethan leaned forward, head poking out of the shadows. It couldn't be, could it?

_Would you hold my hand, if I saw you in heaven?  
Would you help me stand, if I saw you in heaven?_

It most certainly was. Another one had returned here like a salmon swimming upstream. Of course it wasn't the dive it had been some two-dozen years back. Now it was a pub for aging yuppies and college kids.

_I'll find my way through night and day,  
'Cause I know I just can't stay here in heaven._

Ethan looked around, amazed that for an overplayed bit of maudlin melody, how entranced the audience was by Rupert. But then they could hear in his voice what Ethan had heard from cousin Violette. Rupert's Slayer had died last spring.

_Time can bring you down, time can bend your knees.  
Time can break your heart, have you begging please, begging please._

He leaned back into the shadows. That slayer, Buffy, she'd had spunk; he'd give her that. Loyal too. Didn't even miss a beat when he taunted her about her adored Watcher. _"How does Ripper inspire such goodness?"_ Couldn't argue with her with her answer, though. _"Because he's Giles."_ And so much more.

_Beyond the door, there's peace I'm sure,  
And I know there'll be no more tears in heaven._

Sitting in the Initiative's little shop of horrors had given him time and then some to replay all of his visits to Sunnydale, including the last time he'd seen the two of them together. Buffy had nearly killed Ripper, except for what she saw in his eyes. Please. Certainly if they hadn't been lovers then, they had been at some point after that. He was sure of it. Otherwise, why would Rupert's grief still be this raw?

_Would you know my name, if I saw you in heaven?  
Would it be the same, if I saw you in heaven?_

Eh, maybe he'd stay. Rupes was over the whole Faryl demon thing by now, right? He was over his time with the Initiative. Mostly. He would appeal to Rupert's ego, talk of the genius of Clapton. That never failed. The offer of a stiff drink never hurt either.

_I must be strong, and carry on, 'cause I know I don't belong here in heaven._

Then he'd offer his condolences. And another beer. Maybe they'd even reminisce a bit.

~.~.~

"Really Rupert, how long do you expect me to wait," asked Ethan as he called forth enough magic to smooth out the ridges of the bottle cap caught between his fingers.

Rupert frowned, flicking a glance at him before resuming his scan of the club. "Hang on. It'll be worth it."

"Patience is not one of my virtues."

"Oh? So you have virtues."

"Now that's an ugly rumor to be starting. Speaking of starting, when's this...?"

Ethan's question was drowned out by the roar of the crowd as a bespectacled and rather nervous man took to the stage.

"Uh, excuse me. Quiet for a moment. If you could be quiet, I've got some bad news." It amused Ethan to watch the man lick his lips as a murmur of uneasiness rippled through the crowd. "On his way here, Michael was bitten in the neck by a dog or such. Being rushed to hospital as I speak."

Ethan rolled his eyes as he saw Rupert's brow furrow. Still the responsible watcher wannabe under the denim and fags. He whapped Rupert' s arm, "Quit worrying. They wouldn't rush a dead man to the hospital. A little O positive and he'll be just fine." Then he raised an eyebrow. "A dog? Please. You'd think after all this time they could come up with something more original than the Hound of the Baskervilles, eh?"

At that, Rupert grinned. That wide, devil-may-care grin, complete with flashing teeth and crinkling eyes, the one Ethan catalogued in his memory when he managed to cull it out of Rupert. And for no decent reason, he found himself grinning back.

Before he could give it more thought, the muttering crowd drew his attention. They'd gotten over their concern for this Michael once the promoter broke the news there were be no show. Ethan smiled. Things were about to get nice and chaotic. Just the way he liked it. Then he looked over to Rupert and had an even better thought.

Standing up, Ethan shouted, "My friend here can fill in."

"What?" said the promoter and Rupes at nearly the same time. The smile was gone from Rupert's face, but the look of panic was enjoyable in its own way.

He pulled Rupert out of his chair. "I said, my friend here could do it. He plays guitar."

"Can you sing?" asked the promoter, who bee lined for their table.

"I-I-I..."

"He's one of those idiot savants," Ethan told the man, "put him on a stage and he'll find his voice. Cross my heart."

That was enough for the desperate man, who grabbed Rupert and hustled him backstage.

Ethan sat down and snagged a fag from Rupert's abandoned pack. This was going to be a night to remember.

*

What had he been thinking? Ethan looked out at the crowded dance floor, shocked to see every last one of them hanging on Rupert's ever loving word. Where was the fun in that? Sure, there'd been the few moments when he'd taken to the stage, stuttering in his upper-class speech, flustered by the boos and jeers. Until they presented him with a guitar. Then the tables had turned and Rupert had them eating out of his hands.

"What's that?" Rupert was asking of someone off stage. "You want a slow song?" He turned to the crowd, wrinkling his nose, "You don't want some swoony slow song now, do you?" A few girls cheered. "Well, I suppose there are a few benefits to slowing things down, eh?" The impish grin raced out. The guys roared and the girls squealed.

He wasn't sure why, but he hated that Rupert was using his grin to pander to these fools, to make their hearts race a bit faster. These punks didn't deserve it.

"He's so shaggable," gushed a girl standing next to him.

"Oh, yes," Ethan sneered as he watched couples pair up and sway to the strum of the guitar. God, they were lemmings. And the gushing girl was looking at him. Only a complete git would miss that she wanted him to ask her to dance. Wasn't going to happen. If he was going out there, it would be with a head turner, not some frumpy frizzy-haired thing. He looked over gushing girl's shoulder, scanning the edges of the crowd. He spied a dark-eyed, dark haired woman. Rupert's type. Ethan closed the space between them, grabbing her wrist and pulling her to the dance floor, "C'mon."

Another hand shot out, wrapping steel cold fingers around his own wrist and pulling him up short. They belonged to a man as thin as himself, but strong and with something feral about him. A something that told him the booted feet, lined eyes, and black lacquered nails wasn't just a look he sported for fun and fashion.

"I think you should ask the lady nicely if she wants to dance."

"Jack be nimble, Jack be quick," murmured the silk and taffeta woman as she locked eyes with the bracing bottled blond man.

How did these two ever hook up? It was then that Ethan realized how pale her skin was in contrast to her dark dress. And that he couldn't feel her pulse. He was an idiot.

"My mistake," apologized Ethan, releasing her wrist and attempting to extract himself. But the man's grip only tightened.

"Not so fast. What do you say, Drusilla, should I let him go?"

He hung suspended by the magnetism the pair generated.

The one called Drusilla pressed herself close, gripping his forearm. "He's green. Not nearly ripe enough."

"He's green alright, luv. 'Spect he knows who we are. Probably wondering how thirsty we might be."

"Will you watch your cow or trade him for magic beans?" Drusilla whispered into Ethan's ear.

This was getting too surreal, even for him. He looked to the man, who shrugged and asked, "Dru, luv, do you want him or should I do the honors?"

The slow song ended and from stage Rupert asked, "How would you feel 'bout a little bit of The Yardbirds? You need a little _Honey in Your Hips_." With the first lick, the room cracked alive.

_When I get out on the dancing floor,  
There ain't no stopping for an hour or more,_

Drusilla clapped her hands. "Yes, yes! He needs to dance. Dance with him Spike. Round and round the mulberry bush."

_When I get out on the dancing floor,  
There ain't no stopping for an hour or more,_

"Ah, Dru," he wheedled, "'s not nice to play with your food."

Her face crumpled and she began to keen.

_I can't stop, I want to kiss your pretty lips,  
'Cause I know, pretty babe, you got honey in your hips._

"Alright, alright," said Spike. That feral look was in his face again. "'Spose it could be fun."

_I can't stop my feet and I can't stop my hands,  
When I hear the sound of a rock 'n' roll band._

Ethan found himself catapulted onto the dance floor by the demon named Spike, who slammed Ethan against his hips. Ethan yelped in surprise as the man's belt buckle dug into his stomach.

_Gotta rock, gotta roll, gonna jump and shout;  
Nobody better come and turn me out._

That alone would have drawn attention, but with his dance partner's platinum punk looks and moves like the honey Rupert was singing of, they were being flat out gaped at. The demon smirked at him, pressing a knee between Ethan's legs and drawing up along his inner thigh, claiming the space.

_I'm staying all night till I get my kicks,  
'Cause you know, pretty babe, you got honey in your hips._

Ethan felt himself flush, but damned if he would give them the satisfaction. He might believe in demons and magicks, but he had no use for shame. He would enjoy the whole ride and any attention it brought.

"Now you're getting the hang of it," praised the demon as Ethan rocked his weight against that leg, denim scraping and pulling against denim.

From the stage, Rupert's voice growled like caramels melting in a saucepan, hot and thick, threatening to burn. And the burning his voice offered didn't sound too bad.

_I want you and you want me,  
We're gonna dance all night till we both feel free,_

Ethan shot a glance toward the stage. Rupert was looking straight at him and Ethan found himself wondering what was going through old Rupert's head at that very moment. Horror? Surprise? Anger? He'd ask him after the show. Assuming he lived past the end of this dance.

_We'll shake and we'll shimmy right across the floor,  
When it gets late, we'll dance out the door._

The crowd grew frenzied; even he and this Spike creature went unnoticed.

_You better get ready with your pretty lips,  
'Cause you know, pretty babe, you got honey in your hips._

The song ended and the demon shrugged him off like a coat he was tired of wearing, but not yet willing to let go of. Ethan followed his gaze to the woman, who appeared to be necking rather, well, vigorously, with a young man.

Spike sighed. "Tonight's your lucky night, mate. Dru's found a fella on her own." Before letting go, Spike looked from her to the stage. "Might as well leave you with a bit of advice from one who's been there. You're not jealous of him, you're jealous over him."

With that, Ethan found himself cut loose, alone on the dance floor. He should have felt relieved. So why did he feel vaguely dissatisfied?

*

"Ethan! Ethan!" shouted Rupert, cutting through the crowd. "There you are. What a night. You were dancing."

Ethan found himself grinning. "You did see me, then."

Rupert shrugged. "Sorry, no. I just noticed you were sweaty, that's all. Mick took my glasses off before shoving me on stage. Anything more than three feet away was a mess of color. Just as well or the stage fright would have done me in." Then Giles ran his fingers through his own sweaty hair and grinned that damn grin. "So this girl who actually got you to dance. You got her number, right?"

~.~.~

"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me," slurred Giles

"What's that, old man?" asked Ethan.

"Last time I accepted a drink from you, I woke up a demon. Anything I should be expecting this time?"

"No tricks. Even a trickster can take a holiday for a grieving friend, all right?"

Giles stared at him. It was hard to tell if he was trying to size him up or just focus his eyes. "I'll believe it in the morning if everything's the same. No offence."

"None taken." Ethan nodded at the nearly empty Pilsner. "Need another?"

"Aren't enough in the world to make me forget."

"Do you want to forget?"

Giles pushed up his glasses, pinching the bridge of his nose. "No, not one minute. God help me, not a minute."

*

The walk in front of Rupert's flat was quiet as Ethan retreated down the street, shuddering over the act after act of altruism he'd engaged in that night. Not only did he not use magic or spells on Rupert, but he'd actually taken him home and tucked him in safe and sound.

The man was a mess. Ethan remembered how shattered Ripper'd been over Randall's death. Didn't hold a candle to this. He'd loved his Slayer. But to hear Rupert talk, it wasn't like Ethan had imagined. Instead it was paternal to the end. He shook his head. Why would one want to care for someone that way? It was a mystery.

He fished the house key out of his pocket and held it up to the streetlight. So what if Rupert didn't exactly give him permission to take it? If he didn't want it walking away, he wouldn't leave it in the dish by the door.

"Be seeing you."

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to mommanerd and married_n_mich for beta'ing this.


End file.
